THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1933. THE Y.M.C.A.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22063, 20 September 1933, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1933. THE Y.M.C.A.

Prominent among institutions which are closely identified with the life of this city is the Young Men's Christian Association. For a long period the building that constitutes its headquarters has been the impressive outward, symbol of the status of the Y.M.C.A. in the community, and the centre of its many useful activities. The work of the Y.M.C.A, is not in need of any special encomiums at this stage, for with its objects, and with the valuable purpose which it serves, the citizens have reason to be very familiar. Nor should it be necessary to point out that in times like these, when economic causes are creating difficult conditions for the youth of the country, a special demand exists for those services which an institution such as the Y.M.C.A. is capable of rendering. It is partly because of the augmented call that is made upon it in such circumstances that it is faced with the necessity of looking to the citizens of Dunedin for some special assistance at the present time. Though the enthusiasm and public spirit which contribute so much to the success of its work are allied, as is essential, with an eminently business-like direction, the problem of finance has lately been demanding serious consideration. After all, the measure of the usefulness of a philanthropic organisation like the Y.M.C.A. must be largely decided by the community which it serves, and the appeal which is now being launched by the association for financial assistance is made in circumstances that should commend it most strongly to public sympathy. While the economic depression has enlarged the field of the association’s work by increasing claims of a kind to which it feels called upon to respond, it has in some directions tended to circumscribe its resources. In respect of the upkeep of the admirably equipped institution in Moray Place, with its many excellent facilities for the attraction of youth and for the development of youth along line§ that make for good citizenship, there is a deficit to be met. The funds of the association must be augmented, moreover, if it is to be enabled to carry on services that cannot be withheld or restricted if it is adequately to discharge the functions for which it exists. A quarter of a century ago the people of Dunedin provided the means to establish the association upon a local footing commensurate with its aims, and they never participated in a sounder investment. The high ideals of the Y.M.C.A. are realised in a most practical manner, and it must be agreed that character-building and development towards good citizenship are particularly needed at a time when the problem of finding suitable em-

ployment for youths and young men has become acute. The testimony borne to the value of the work of the Y.M.C.A. in this relation by speakers at the meeting at the Town Hall yesterday was no more eloquent than the occasion warranted. The support whifh the business community accords the association is based on recognition of the usefulness of its work in coping with some of the serious aspects of the problem to which we have referred. The question now involved is that of the maintenance and expansion of the operations of this valuable movement in Dunedin. The association serves the community and the community cannot but recognise that the appeal made to it for assistance is one to which, if only in self-interest, it should readily respond. The claims upon which it is based are of a kind that must elicit, sympathy, and in view of their nature, and of all that the Y.M.C.A. stands for, it is a comparatively modest amount that is required to enable this organisation to carry on its operations to the best advantage.